When Constitution was written

[rbrnmw]

and the bill of rights people had muskets there were no automatic or semi-automatic weapons! can we talk about that when discussing the 2nd amendment?

[Angry Dragon]

1. +1,843

I was thinking the same thing today

[rbrnmw]

2. I mean if they want to take the Constitution literally

they should trade their guns for muskets or bayonets

[kelly1mm]

3. While I can certianly see a certain 'originalist' catch 22 there, what about the same restrictions

as to freedom of speech? No email when the constitution was written, or TV, or radio, or the internet. Not sure I want a line in the sand that says our civil rights are only for the tech that existed in 1789.

[rbrnmw]

4. I'm talking about gun nuts who stockpile weapons

[kelly1mm]

6. Ok - I thought you were talking about an actual legal approach to the problem, rather than just

a rant. The problem is that the courts generally do not have different levels of scrutiny for different amendments to the constitution. Basically what I am saying is that if you were to propose that the 2nd amendment only protects the ownership of weapons that existed at the time that the amendment was ratified, the same limitations would apply to other civil rights. Thus, since the internet did not exist at the time of the 1st amendment, it should not be protected. I think everyone knows that this will be played out in the courts so legal principles matter.

[jody]

5. Either talk about ALL rights or admit you just want to abolish one right among many

that pre-existed our Constitution and does not depend upon words on paper.

[cthulu2016]

7. And no photographs... thus the 1st Amendment does not apply to photos

[Igel]

8. No cartridge weapons.

Hard to have any kind of repeater when you have to take the rifle, put in powder, wadding, and bullet to reload.

Muzzle-loaders.

Then again, they did have people to load rifles so that you could aim, shoot, and reach for the next loaded weapon.

But they weren't muskets. The American Revolution was won with rifles.